


Can't reach out and it hurts

by CelticGHardy



Series: Family Path of Blood [6]
Category: The Following
Genre: Community: hc_bingo, Gen, Pre-Series
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-12-23
Updated: 2013-12-23
Packaged: 2018-01-05 15:51:38
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 512
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1095820
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CelticGHardy/pseuds/CelticGHardy
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The local news is not the greatest place to find out someone you care about is hurt.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Can't reach out and it hurts

Mike wasn't paying attention to the news, staring at his homework that refused to sort itself out. It was more background noise for him since his mother had separated herself in the kitchen to work.

“The Winslow killer has been captured, but not without a final attempt on a co-ed's life,” the news reporter announced. He looked up when he heard that. _That's Dad's case._ “The FBI is reporting that Professor Joseph Carroll, literary professor of Winslow, was arrested in the home of Sarah Fuller. Her and her roommate came home where Carroll was already waiting. Killing her friend instantly, he was torturing Fuller when FBI agent Ryan Hardy heard their cries of help.”

 _Dad._ A smile instinctively lit up his face. He felt proud for his dad. The last few times they had talked had been about the case. The reporter continued, “Hardy stopped Carroll, but not before stabbing the agent.”

“Mom!” he yelled, turning back and forth, “Mom, it's Dad!”

“Calm down,” Debra muttered, “It's ten at night and the neighbors....”

“Dad was stabbed by the Winslow murderer, the guy named Carroll he was going after,” he repeated. She watched the news go back over what they declared again that Ryan Hardy had been injured in the process of saving Sarah Fuller. Debra watched, worried. They had broken up years before, but had kept in touch because of Mike. He looked up at her when they reported that the man was going into surgery to repair the stab wound in his heart. “Can we go see him now?” he asked.

She sighed. “No, we can't,” she explained, “They're not going to be letting anyone in at this time of night. Nobody knows that we're related. I'll call Jenny. She's probably been informed because she's the emergency contact. We'll visit later with her help.” Debra watched him crumble. She didn't like holding him back, but they couldn't just go in and demand to see him. They kept him secret because he would become a target. “Come here.” Thankfully for the two of them, he didn't think hugging his parents was uncool or stupid. He latched onto her, dropping his head on her shoulder. “Dad's a tough guy.”

“But,” he cracked, “It sounds bad.”

“Hey, if they're operating on him, he has a very strong chance.” She rubbed his back and wished he was still around her height. He hit another spurt and towered over her by a couple of inches. She's pretty sure he even had an inch on Ryan. She heard a couple of sniffles before he let go and sat back down, rubbing his eyes. “Hey, it's likely he'll start waking up in a couple of days. Jenny will tell us when we can visit. All right?”

“Okay,” he mumbled, rounding up his homework. Mike couldn't think about it at the moment. He put it all in his bag before motioning for his Mom again. Wordlessly, she hugged him again. She understood that he needed to know everything would be all right, even if it didn't feel like it.


End file.
